-
Paul Gutiérrez, ESPN writer
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders have fired Antonio Pierce after his first full season as head coach, the team announced Tuesday.
The Raiders will keep general manager Tom Telesco, who was hired for the job last season, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Raiders limited owner Tom Brady is expected to serve on a collaborative committee to interview head coaching candidates and support team owner Mark Davis, league sources told Schefter.
“We appreciate Antonio’s leadership, first as interim head coach and last season as head coach. Antonio grew up a Raiders fan and his silver and black roots run deep. We are grateful for his ability to rekindle what it means to be a Raider, the entire organization wishes nothing but the best for Antonio and his family in the future,” the team said in a statement.
Pierce, who was hired last season as the team’s coach after serving as interim coach in 2023, led the Raiders to a 4-13 record this season.
He said in his media availability Monday that he was operating as if he would remain as the team’s coach, but acknowledged that he had not yet met with Davis.
The Raiders lost 34-20 to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday to end a season that included a 10-game losing streak, the team’s longest since 2014, when they opened 0-10. The Raiders will now look to hire their fifth head coach since moving to Las Vegas from Oakland in 2020 and ninth since Davis took over as owner following the death of his father, Al Davis, in 2011.
Las Vegas finished last in its division and landed the sixth pick in the draft on Sunday. The remaining AFC West teams (the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos and Chargers) advanced to the playoffs.
Pierce, 46, was initially promoted from linebackers coach to interim head coach when Davis fired Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler after less than two full seasons on Halloween night in 2023.
The Raiders went 5-4 under Pierce to finish 2023, including 4-2 in the AFC West, with a 63-21 beating of the Chargers to finish 8-9 overall.
After an offseason during which the Raiders were unable or unwilling to trade for a quarterback in the draft, Pierce had his eyes on Jayden Daniels, but he was selected at No. 2 and six quarterbacks were selected before of the Raiders’ pick at No. 13: Las Vegas went with veteran free agent Gardner Minshew, giving him a two-year, $25 million contract with $15 million guaranteed.
The Raiders also had an agreement with former Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury to come on board as offensive coordinator before he retired and went to the Washington Commanders, who drafted Daniels.
Pierce decided on former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, and Minshew won a close training camp battle with second-year quarterback Aidan O’Connell.
But the Raiders’ offense, under Getsy and Minshew, did not get off to the fast start that Pierce envisioned, and Minshew was benched in favor of O’Connell after five games. Getsy was fired after nine games and replaced by passing game coordinator Scott Turner, and O’Connell and Minshew continued to deal with injuries the rest of the season.
Before being promoted, Pierce, a nine-year veteran who was named to the Pro Bowl and won a Super Bowl as a linebacker with the New York Giants, had never been a head coach above the high school level and was never a coordinator in the NFL.
